


life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

by luthien82



Series: Senator Blaine AU [11]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Politics, M/M, Requited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-04
Updated: 2012-09-04
Packaged: 2017-11-13 13:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luthien82/pseuds/luthien82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been two weeks since Kurt got the phone call and flew back to Ohio. Blaine has no idea if he'll ever come back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

**Author's Note:**

> I tweaked and tweaked and tweaked this part and now I release it into the wild because I will cry tears of frustration if I don't.
> 
> Also, when I said we would be done in 15 parts? I actually meant ~~18~~ 21\. ~~So far.~~ This series suddenly developed a life of its own and is attacking me with random scenarios that have to be written before the inevitable end. Ah well, as long as I don't bore you guys I say, "Let's keep them coming!".
> 
> Also: a big thank you to the people who recced me all over the place! You guys rock and I love you! <3
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Glee and its characters are the intellectual property of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and 20th Century Fox. No profit is made, this has been written purely for fun.

* * *

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since that fateful phone call and Kurt’s hasty departure back to Lima, Ohio. They hadn’t heard anything from him, not even a confirmation that he’d arrived safe and sound. Blaine was worried sick, both for Kurt and his dad, but Kurt’s phone was off (he’d checked) and he couldn’t very well up and leave to be with them.

Much as he wanted to.

Instead, he threw himself into his campaign work and the funding issues for a few of the charity organizations he was sponsoring. He planned his itinerary for his journey back to Ohio later in the year, endured Congress sessions and smiled his way through visits from colleagues.

And he tried to get used to the young face sitting in Kurt’s place right now.

Holly was a hastily summoned temp and doing a decent job, all things considered. Everyone had jumped in to help out after Kurt’s surprise leave, especially when they realized how much he was doing for everyone without a second thought or ever mentioning it to anybody. It was humbling to see that Kurt wasn’t just organizing Blaine’s days, but making it easier for everyone else around him too.

He was sorely missed, and they had no idea if he would ever return.

That possibility was the real reason why Blaine was so down. He wouldn’t even be angry with Kurt if he decided to stay home, stay away from Washington and the stress to be with his family. It was true that it would be a huge loss not only for him, but for everyone. But if that was what Kurt wanted, Blaine would give it to him.

Still, if it came to that, Holly wasn’t a proper replacement for Kurt at all. And just the thought of someone else greeting him every morning, helping him and organizing his life, made Blaine’s gut churn. He didn’t _want_ anyone else but Kurt. That might’ve made him selfish, but by god, so be it. He _was_ selfish when it came to Kurt and his presence in Blaine’s life. It was just that...

Kurt made everything so much _easier_. Even Blaine’s own loneliness, and wasn’t that a sad thought indeed?

Blaine sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was tired and cranky and moody, and only half of that could be attributed to Kurt’s absence. The rest was just his regular work schedule, plus the additional tasks he’d taken on by himself now that Kurt wasn’t there to manage his correspondence before it ever saw Blaine’s desk. Needless to say, there was a lot of idiotic crap mixed in with important messages, and it was hell to sift through everything.

A soft knock on his open office door made Blaine look up. Wes was leaning against the door jamb, his arms crossed over his chest. “Hey,” he said quietly, nodding at Blaine who smiled tiredly back.

“Hey. You heading out?”

Wes nodded. “Might as well. It’s after five.”

Blaine made a noncommittal sound and read through another message, secretly fantasizing about gouging his own eyes out to escape this mind-numbingly boring task.

“Any news?”

At Wes’ soft question, Blaine stilled. He stared down at the piece of paper, not seeing anything for a moment. Then he shook his head. “No. Nothing.”

He hesitated, not wanting to put his worries into actual words. But it was weighing on his mind too much, so he looked up at Wes and asked, “That’s a good sign, right? That there’s no news at all?”

Wes pressed his lips together for a moment, his arms tightening over his chest. After a moment he sighed and shrugged. “I hope so. I really do.”

“Yeah,” Blaine said quietly, looking back down at his correspondence and trying to ignore the uncomfortable tightening of his gut. “Me too.”

“You heading out soon, too?”

Blaine shook his head. “I want to finish this first. I’ll be another couple hours, maybe three.”

He could practically feel Wes’ disapproval radiating from the door, but he ignored it and stubbornly left his gaze on the papers. After a moment Wes sighed again and, judging by the rustling of his clothes, straightened up to leave. “Alright. But _please_ go home sometime tonight, okay?”

“I promise,” Blaine said, smiling down at his papers.

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

Silence settled back over him after that, and while the minutes ticked by, the outer offices grew quieter and quieter until at long last, Blaine was the only one left. He’d immersed himself deeply in his work, not even noticing the time. He was so wrapped up in his own head that the slow, soft knock on his office door didn’t even register at first. When it did, Blaine couldn’t stop the small smile stretching his lips. Looked like Wes still knew him too well and didn’t trust him when it came to his own health.

“Checking up on me, Wes?” he asked without looking up. “I thought you went home hours ago?”

There was no answer, which was surprising. Usually Wes had a rebuttal for everything. Blaine signed one of the memos before he raised his head.

He wasn’t prepared for Kurt standing in his doorway.

“Kurt!” Blaine exclaimed and shot out of his seat in surprise. That earned him a small smile but not much else. Kurt remained standing in the doorway, looking a little pale but otherwise immaculate as always in a soft looking grey sweater and dark pants, a black coat draped over his arms.

Blaine had never really been lost for words before; he always knew what to say in any given situation. But now, looking at Kurt, he had no idea what to say to him. Should he ask him what he was doing here? If his dad was okay? What if he wasn’t? There were too many possibilities to accidentally put his foot in it, and Blaine really didn’t want to appear insensitive. In the end, he settled for a heartfelt, “Are you okay?”

Kurt nodded sharply, then took a step into the office, looking down on the floor. Blaine had no idea what to do with himself. Should he come forward and hug Kurt? Or maintain the distance in case Kurt didn’t want to be touched? Everything in him screamed to go to him and at least shake his hand, but Blaine remained frozen on the spot by his desk. He kept looking at Kurt, drinking in the sight. He was a little horrified to realize that Kurt’s mere presence soothed something in him that he didn't even know had been hurting.

He exhaled slowly, then smiled shyly at Kurt whose gaze was still glued to the floor. “I’m glad,“ he offered, hoping it was neutral enough not to get him into trouble. He watched Kurt for another moment before his curiosity and worry won out and he asked carefully, “How is your dad?”

Kurt stilled. Blaine held his breath, hoping he hadn’t committed a terrible faux-pas. But then he saw Kurt’s face relax and he looked up at Blaine with a wavering smile. “He’s awake. Recuperating. They had to do a double bypass. It was close.”

Kurt’s voice almost gave out by the end, but he didn’t stop smiling even though his eyes grew suspiciously wet at the same time. Blaine’s heart constricted in sympathy to Kurt’s pain, but he forced himself to smile back encouragingly. “So he will be fine?”

Kurt pressed his lips together and took a deep breath before he nodded. “Only time will tell, but the doctors think so.”

Blaine exhaled in relief and nodded, fresh out of words yet again. He curled and uncurled his hands into fists by his side, debating with what he could say next. But then Kurt started talking without Blaine’s prompting, his gaze never resting on one thing for long, but never looking at Blaine either.

“He’s had a heart attack before, you know? When I was sixteen. I was so scared back then, when he wouldn’t wake up. He was all that I had.” He swallowed thickly, and Blaine’s throat had closed up as well. His body throbbed, every word Kurt uttered was like a stab to his heart. But he was glad that Kurt was confiding in him, that he was sharing this with him.

Kurt seemed to have composed himself enough to continue, “Back then, I’d made so many promises to myself, how I would live life to the fullest. I was horrified to realize that I haven’t done everything I’ve promised myself I would do. I just...”

He trailed off and looked over at Blaine, his gaze searching. Then something shifted in his face. He let his coat slide out of his arms and onto the couch, took another deep breath and, while his gaze was again wandering searchingly through the office, he whispered, “I can’t do this anymore.”

Everything in Blaine froze up, including his capability to breathe or form any coherent thoughts. No. No, no, _no_. No, Kurt did not come back to quit. He _couldn’t_. Burt was fine, the doctors said so. Kurt _couldn’t_ quit, what was Blaine supposed to _do_ without him?

He was so wrapped up in his inner panic that he almost missed it when Kurt breathed in carefully, looked up and into Blaine’s eyes, and whispered, “I’m in love with you.”

The words were like an electrical shock to his system, rooting him to the floor. Blaine just stared, his mouth was dry and his eyes felt huge and he had no idea what breathing even was. He blinked, opened and closed his mouth without a sound escaping him, then stared some more. Kurt didn’t move, didn’t even twitch. He just looked at Blaine with a serenity he had never shown before now. Blaine opened his mouth again to say something - _anything_ \- but nothing came out.

Kurt seemed to take it as permission to continue talking. A sad little smile appeared on his face when he said, “I’ve been in love with you since the moment we met. I just never did anything about it because... well, because you were my boss, and I was your employee. And we’re adults so we don’t always get what we want, right?”

Blaine’s breath hitched in his throat at hearing those words, at hearing his own reasonings for never approaching Kurt. This was... what was happening here? Why was Kurt breaking his own resolve now, after all these years and the obvious choice he’d made way back when they’d first met?

As if reading his mind, Kurt let out a short laugh and, wringing his hands, he continued, “I’ve talked myself out of asking you out for many stupid reasons. Well, they weren’t stupid at the time, I thought them very reasonable, in fact. But in retrospect, with the self reflection I had time to do in the last two weeks? They were stupid, cowardly reasons.”

He paused and stared down at his hands. He seemed fascinated with his fingers, but Blaine couldn’t take his eyes away from Kurt’s face, his beautiful, _beautiful_ face. He wanted to say something, wanted to assure Kurt that he wasn’t alone with his feelings, but words were still escaping him and his body didn’t seem to cooperate either; he remained frozen on the spot.

“The whole time...” Kurt began, then trailed off when his voice gave out for a moment. He took a deep breath through his nose, then started again, “The whole time I was sitting at my dad’s bedside, I was thinking about missed opportunities. All the things I never told him, all the things I never showed him. All the things I never did and denied myself because I was scared or too honorable. I was angry with myself for maybe having missed the opportunity to introduce him to the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

At that, Kurt looked up and caught Blaine’s gaze. His blue eyes were wet with unshed tears, but there was a small smile on his lips when he admitted, “This is so silly, because I don’t even believe in god. But the whole time I was sitting vigil, I _prayed_. I prayed that I’d get the chance to introduce you to him, that I’d get the chance to tell him, ‘Dad, this is Blaine, and I’m in love with him’. I wanted him to see what a great man you are. And I wanted to hear him say in his gruff voice that he is glad for me to have finally found the man who was making me so, so happy.”

Blaine felt his own eyes grow wet with unshed tears, a big lump forming in his throat. He knew that, if he tried to speak now, his voice would give out on him. So all he could do was stare at Kurt, hang at his every word and know, finally _know_ that he wasn’t alone in this sea of feelings he’d always harbored for Kurt.

Kurt, sweet beautiful _Kurt_ who had always been so much braver than Blaine, pressed his trembling lips together for a second, then said with a slight hitch in his breath, “And then he woke up, and I swore to myself I was done. Life is too short and I won’t stand around doing _nothing_ while it passes me by. I swore to myself that I was going to take a chance and hope for the best.”

Suddenly, he stretched out his arms, a wobbly smile gracing his lips and a tear finally escaping his eye. “So this is me, asking you out,” he said, scared yet fearless at the same time, not shying away from a possible rejection.

Blaine had never loved him more than he did in that moment.

He had no idea how long they remained like that. After a while Kurt bit his lip and whispered, “Say something.”

Blaine still couldn’t speak, still had no words. But his body had finally unfrozen and he did the only thing he was capable of right now: he walked over to Kurt, cradled his head between his hands and leaned up to kiss him.

It wasn’t the best kiss in the world. Blaine had been a little off in his approximation and Kurt had clearly not expected him to go in for a kiss. But then he felt Kurt’s hands land on his shoulders, carefully, almost questioningly. Blaine raised his head a little to nose along Kurt’s cheek before he leaned in again. And this time, their lips fit perfectly.

He felt Kurt’s tears on his cheeks, felt his surprised laugh rumble in his chest and spill out from between his parted lips. Blaine swallowed the sound eagerly with his open mouth, then sucked lightly on Kurt’s lower lip. Kurt’s hands slid over Blaine’s shoulders until his arms were around his neck, pulling him closer. For a moment they did nothing but breathe together, against each other, lips parted in anticipation of what would happen next. And Blaine decided that, for once in their relationship, he should be the brave one, and flicked his tongue against Kurt’s lower lip.

Kurt groaned, the sound swallowed eagerly by Blaine’s mouth, and then they were off, kissing hungrily with all the pent-up frustration and attraction they’d harbored for each other for _years_. Blaine had no idea who moved first, but suddenly he had Kurt pressed up against the wall, his thigh slipping between Kurt’s legs and pushing _up_. Kurt groaned again, his head falling back and revealing his long, immaculate neck that had tempted Blaine ever since they’d been introduced to each other. Blaine couldn’t resist and pressed his mouth against the pulse point, flicked his tongue against the butterfly beat of Kurt’s rapidly pounding heart. He smelled wonderful, and none of Blaine’s fantasies came even close to how Kurt’s skin felt underneath his lips.

They made out like teenagers, neither of them conscious of the time. Eventually, they both seemed to remember that they were still in Blaine’s office and, while it was late and therefore unlikely, they could be walked in on at any moment. So they parted reluctantly, exchanging a few more slow, tender kisses, before they stopped and Kurt pressed his forehead against Blaine’s.

“Was that a yes?” he asked breathlessly, making Blaine laugh.

“Absolutely,” Blaine replied. “I’d be honored to go out with you.”

“Okay.” Kurt’s smile, from this close, was a thing of sheer beauty. Blaine couldn’t help but kiss it, wanted to feel it against his mouth. Kurt didn’t seem to mind and kissed back.

“And in case it didn’t come across,” Blaine murmured in between kisses, “I’m in love with you too.”

Kurt’s breath hitched and he froze for a second, but then his hands carded through Blaine’s hair and he breathed another, “Okay,” before he leaned in for more kisses.

Before it could escalate again, Blaine let go of Kurt’s mouth and leaned in until his lips were against Kurt’s ear. “We’re going to take it slow,” he said quietly, still not letting go, his hands stroking up and down Kurt’s back. “We’ll date properly, not rush into anything.”

“Okay,” Kurt said again, the grin evident in his voice.

“I don’t want to lose you as my PA,” Blaine admitted after a moment. He pulled his head back so he could look at Kurt, and his hand came up to run a thumb over Kurt’s cheek bone, mesmerized by his sharp contours. “But if I have to choose, then I’d rather take the chance of having you in my life as my partner than having you in my life solely as my PA.”

Their eyes met and held for a long moment, with Blaine’s heart beating rapidly in his chest after that particular confession. Then Kurt leaned down and pressed their mouths together in an almost chaste kiss. “We’ll figure it out,” he promised quietly and drew Blaine into a hug. They stayed like that, taking comfort in each other’s embrace and in the knowledge that they were closing a chapter of their lives to begin a new one; one that could be so much better because they would share it with each other. Blaine hid his face against Kurt’s shoulder, tightened his arms around him, and held on.

He couldn’t _wait_ for their new life to start.


End file.
